The Ups and Downs of Being Conjoined
by Maybell's Stories
Summary: Madeline Kirkland had been completely content with living in her organized little world. Stuck to her brother's back had been difficult but not impossible to overcome and after fifteen years of living with the same perfect routine day in and day out. However; when her father gets a job in Japan the twins must learn to cope with change and accepting the possibility of love.
1. Prologue

**Hola Mis Amigos! It's been a while. But I an starting a new story today. Three important things before we get started.**

**I know that conjoined twin are ALWAYS the same sex, but for this story and for the sake of the plot they are boy and girl.**

**There is no incest what so ever, no matter what anyone thinks, this is not meant to be like that. **

**Genderbent characters don't all look like the fem! characters, they are really meant to be a female version, ex. I know Fem!France is supposed to have brownish hair, but I'm going to have her have blonde like her male counterpart, Maddie's hair is just as short as Mathew's and etc.**

**I do not own any of the Hetalia Characters.  
**

* * *

**The Ups and Downs of Being Conjoined  
**

* * *

Twenty year old Arthur Kirkland stared through the glass panel that separated himself from the two miracles that rested in the crib among the sea of cribs. Twins. His heart leapt at the thought alone of being able to hold them in his arms.

He felt himself panic when they were taken from their crib, but soon relaxed when he realized the doctor was bring them over for the Englishman to see. The door opened and Arthur saw a bundle being handed to him.

With a bit of excitement he took the bundle without question and state down in one of the chairs available. As he looked into the bundle he noticed something wasn't right. He had known that something wasn't right when after the twins had been removed from his wife's belly with the C-Section because of their premature birth that he should have heard two children screaming instead of one. And after the babies were rushed away without him even getting a peak at them he had known something was wrong. But what he saw in his arms was something far different then what he ever could have expected.

Conjoined twins.

* * *

**AAAAAANNNNNNNDDDDDD boom! New story begins!**

**Now for all my Patient Impossible readers, I will eventually get that updated, but I currently have had no inspiration for it so I haven't written anything and I probably won't for a while.**

**Anyways, this is about Maddie and Al, and their lives as conjoined twins. And their strange condition will be explained in the next chapter.**

**Until Then.**

**Bye Bye~**


	2. Sooner or Later The Perfection Ends

**I do not own any of the Hetalia Characters.  
**

* * *

**The Ups and Downs of Being Conjoined  
**

* * *

Madeline Kirkland enjoyed life just as much as every other teenager around. However, she wasn't like any other teen. Maddie was attached to her twin brother Alfred by the spinal cord they shared. She had never fully seen her brother's face bedsides photos.

She loved her brother dearly and would do anything for him, though there is not much she can do. Maddie and Alfred Kirkland were very different from each other. While Alfred was loud and slightly obnoxious, she herself tended to be more quiet and reserved. Throughout their lives they had often been asked if it was terrible being stuck to someone else. And while there were many downsides to it all, there were many perks.

They could always understand each other's feelings and perfectly know how to deal with each other's personalities. The strength Alfred possessed allowed Maddie to get many rides on her brother's back which was always fun. But the best part?

Her best friend had been with her since birth.

The downsides though were just as bad. Puberty had indeed been the strangest issue for the Kirkland family to undertake. Along with figuring out how to use the bathrooms in public. In which cases Maddie would wear a blindfold whenever Alfred had to take a leak and there was no family restroom. At school they were lucky to have teacher restrooms where the twins were given special permission to use. If one got sick the other was soon to follow. They weren't able to take all the classes they wanted and in the future they were paved with they would have to both agree on a profession.

But the biggest downside for them was that they both understood that they would never be able to fall in love, get married or have children. Maddie understood and knew that Alfred did too, and throughout their lives it was a topic they thoroughly avoided.

They were happy to say that they had always had the support of their parents Francine and Arthur Kirkland. Who had supported the two in whatever endeavors they thought of.

Their biggest support came when the twins wanted to be part of sports and tried out for the only thing they had any possible chance at.

The Track and Cross Country Team.

Whether anyone believed it to be true, the Kirkland twins were undoubtably the stars of the team. Having the fasted recorded running time in their school's history. Alfred did most of the work while Maddie would ride on his back like a fuel tank. Remarkably, instead as being thought of as dead weight on the louder twin's back, Maddie's weight would seemingly disappeared and any energy that she had would immediately go to him for extra strength. Neither of them ever really understood it, but they didn't care. They were happy and proud of their lives and could have gone on living like that for the rest of their lives. Their lives were planned out and organized. they had each other, their parents, and many, many friends they had accumulated over the years.

But everything they changed when their father Arthur was offered an amazing job that could offer the family the money they needed to get out of poverty. However, this entailed only one problem.

They Kirkland family was moving to Japan.

* * *

**Hello! This is chapter one and I will hopefully put up chapter two tomorrow. I have it written but I need to type it. And no real action will really start until chapter where they get to their new school in Japan. And BTW, all of their friends are not any Hetalia characters because they will all be over in Japan at their new school and stuff. There will be more genderbends but I'm not sure who right now.**

**Until Then**

**Bye Bye~**


	3. Welcome to Japan Were We Eat Sushi

**I do not own any of the Hetalia Characters.  
**

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**The Ups and Downs of Being Conjoined  
**

* * *

"Al! I dropped Mr. Kumajiro! Let me grab him!" Maddie said trying to get her twin to flip them over so she could reach the stuffed polar that was currently laying on the floor of the empty bedroom they shared.

"Just a minute little sis, I'm almost done packing," Alfred snickered as he felt his sister wriggle around on his back.

A blonde head poked its way into the bedroom. Their mother smiled at their antics before speaking, "Maddie, Al, hurry up, we are leaving soon."

A somber mood seemed to fall over the twins as Alfred closed his suitcase slowly.

"Yeah Mom. We're almost ready," he responded, reaching down to pick up the fallen bear and handing it back to the twin over him who accepted it with a small thank you.

Francine's smile drooped and she and she turned to leave the room. "Alright then."

The twins were quiet for a moment as they sat themselves down on their bed.

"I'm really gonna miss this crappy little town," Maddie murmured.

"Me too."

When Alfred took Maddie's hand was when she noticed tears dripping down her cheeks.

"I wish I could hug you little sis, so ya don't have to cry so much."

She let out a chocked laugh at her brother's wishful thinking. "You know you're not older than me. We both came out at the same time."

He smiled, "Yeah, but I was the first to breathe."

"Yes indeed, and it was the loudest first breath ever to exist."

Their father's voice directed their attention over to where he stood leaning against the doorframe. The boy and girl on the bed let out a few bouts of laughter while their dad chuckled along. He walked over and tousled their hair after sitting down with them.

"I know you two love this place, and I understand Japan is far away. But I promise to both of you that this move will change our lives. With this new job we'll be able to afford things we haven't been able to in the past."

Maddie looked up at her dad hopefully, "Like maple syrup?"

Alfred cracked up at her question and Arthur just rubbed her head.

"We'll buy all the maple syrup you want."

"Okay."

The twins got to their feet, or Alfred's feet, grabbed the last of their belongings and followed Arthur out to the car.

With a little help they were soon situated in the mini van they owned, and on the road to the airport. The trip to the airport was short and getting onto the nine and a half hour flight was simple. Once Alfred and Madeline sat in the seat specially modified by Arthur's boss, they quickly drifted off into a peaceful slumber.

* * *

_A blue sky shone above Madeline's head as the sun shined down on her. She looked down to see a blue summer dress flowing around her. The smell of flowers and grass wafted into her nostrils._

"_Maddie!"_

_She turned her body to be tackled by Alfred in a hug that knocked them to the soft grass._

"_Haha! Al, you're smushing me!" she giggled as he lifted himself off of her and helped her onto her feet._

_She looked into his face hoping to get a glimpse of it. But his face was fuzzy, unlike the clear world around them, she could not make out his face._

_She put a sad hand on her bother's face and started to cry._

"_Woah, Maddie, what's wrong?" he quickly asked._

"_I can't see you."_

_He laughed, "Silly, that's just because you don't have your glasses on, here."_

_She felt the thin frames being placed on her face. She felt a sudden spurt of excitement, she would get to see Al's face! Just another moment until her eyes could focus-  
_

* * *

When Maddie awake from her slumber she saw it was still just as dark as when they had boarded the plane. She looked down to she her mother grasping her hand. Noticing her daughter was awake Francine smiled.

"'Ello mon petit lapin. Did you sleep well?" her mother's sweet French accent drifted into her ears and made her want to fall back to sleep.

"Hmm.. yeah."

The two looked back out the window at the night sky and the stars that inhabited it.

"I know you miss that town mon cher. We all do."

Maddie smiled, "It's okay, Al and I understand. We know how much this job will mean to us financially."

Francine kissed her daughter's cheek lovingly.

"Try to get some more sleep lapin."

"Hm."

She fell asleep listening to her mother's humming.

* * *

The next time she woke up, her brother was lifting them out of the seats. The sun was rising in the sky and she knew they were close to their destination.

"Were are we going Al?" she asked.

"I gotta pee real bad, been holding it in for several hours and my bladder feels like it's about to-"

"I got it."

They walked into the bathroom and Madeline let her mind wander as Alfred relieved himself. What was Japan like? Would they have to eat sushi all the time? What were the schools like? Was Japanese going to be hard to learn?

"Hey, do you need to go too?"

Alfred's voice snapped her out of her daydreaming and she nodded her head in ascent. "Yeah, might as well."

Once the awkward process was finished they took turns washing their hands and Alfred hefted her back onto his back and they made their way back to the seats.

Arthur spotted them and helped them into the seat and buckled them in.

"Well kids, looks like you better get your chopsticks out. Because we're here.

"Welcome to Japan."

As the twins departed from the plane they noticed how beautiful Japan was. Everywhere they looked was filled with green.

"Wow, it's so pretty," Alfred whispered.

"Beautiful indeed lad, and the place we'll be living at is twice as green," Arthur said.

"Al, look at the sky. It's so blue."

Looking to where his sister pointed Alfred smiled.

"I think we can adjust to living here just fine."

* * *

"Welcome home kids. You're room is to the left and down the hall."

Rushing into their new room Alfred first ran to the bed and collapsed on it. Rolling to his side so Maddie could lay there too.

"Wow, it's so comfortable. I feel like I could just sleep the day away," she mumbled.

"Alfred! Madeline! Can you come 'ere please?" Francine called out.

Shuffling into the living room they found their mother standing there with a school uniform in her hands. Alfred groaned.

"Aww, we have to wear uniforms?"

Their mother chuckled at his antics and threw the outfit at them. "Yes, now go and put this on so I can make any extra modifications needed."

Walking into the bathroom they quickly changed into the modified uniform.

"This outfit is actually pretty comfortable," Madeline mused.

They walked out of the bathroom and back into the living room where their mother awaited them with her sewing kit in case of any needed adjustments.

"Well don't you two look absolutely darling!" she gushed.

"Mom!" Alfred whined, "We're fifteen! We're not darling!"

Maddie just laughed.

Their mother continued to fuss over them while Arthur walked in and handed Maddie their school schedule.

"Here's your schedule for school. I suggest you get some sleep because you start tomorrow."

Alfred turned to his dad, "Wait tomorrow? We don't even get a day adjust? What if we get lost? What if everything is different? WE DON'T EVEN KNOW JAPANESE!"

Arthur laughed, "Don't worry about that, the school you'll be going to has staff that all speak several different languages, English included. Most of the students come from countries that spoke English along with other languages."

Maddie and Francine laughed at her brother's inability to counter his father's answer.

"Hmph, I'm hungry," he grumbled.

"You always are, Al," Maddie said.

"Ohonhon, well, I guess I should go get some dinner oui? What would you like?"

"Sushi!" Alfred yelled almost making the twins fall to the floor.

Francine smiled, "Sushi it is then!"

She grabbed her purse and went out the door, "I'll be back in about thirty minutes, so start unpacking. And Arthur, lapin, Nous devrions avoir anguille sous roche quand je rentre, non?"

Her husband blushed at her words, "Bloody frog, don't say such things! And don't call me bunny!"

The twins, having never really been taught French, just let it go as their mother making suggestions and waved it away.

Francine laughed and waved before closing the door. The family went about unpacking their things until Francine returned with their dinner. After a swift dinner they all crawled into bed awaiting the next day.

* * *

Getting up was easy. Getting ready easier. Everything went along as usual until they reached the school and climbed out of the car. The moment they got out of the car they felt all eyes on them as they moved through the hallways and into their first classroom. Upon sitting down in their seat they noticed how all conversation in the room ceased and silence followed.

The twins, unused to people gawking at them, didn't understand why the room became so quiet, and Alfred, unable to read the atmosphere asked, "Hey, why did y'all stop talking all of a sudden?"

Silence.

They were confused. Why was everyone so quiet? And why were they staring at them? Did they have something on their faces? Where their clothes on inside out?

Then Maddie suddenly understood.

They were conjoined. They were startled by how they looked. They must have looked like freaks. Maddie wanted to just curl up in a corner and hide.

A moment went by until Maddie heard the sound of shoes hitting the floor approach them. She looked up to see an light, auburn haired girl that had one single strand curling off the side of her head. Her eyes were closed and a look of wonder graced her soft features.

"Ve~ Scusi, but what happened to you two?"

Another student came up behind her and whispered something into her ear. He was a tall blonde with striking blue eyes and extremely buff. Whatever he said seemed to affect the girl and she immediately started to apologize.

"Mi dispiace! Mi dispiace! I didn't mean to pry! I was just curious!" she wailed.

Alfred laughed it off, "Nah, it's fine, we just aren't used to people asking us what happened. Hehe, where we come from everyone knew what had happened to nothing had to be explained."

Maddie could feel her bother's smile as he answered the girl's question.

"It's a very simple thing really. When our mother was pregnant with us we didn't have quite enough time to get finished and separate. We were born too early and baby sis here almost died, but since we didn't get done being made we were stuck together. Usually twins like us can be separated after birth, but we happen to be sharing a very important part of our body so we can't separate."

Every student seemed to snap out of their stupor and bombarded the two with questions. To which the twins tried very hard to answer all of their questions.

"What do you two share?"

"Our spinal chord."

"Can you read each other's minds?"

"I don't know..."

"... I guess it's a possibility."

"How to you two use the bathroom?"

"Uhh, well..."

"How do you get along with each other?"

"We've just lived together for fifteen years, you learn."

"Do you sleep together?"

"Well, duh. How else would we sleep? Apart?"

"How to you take showers?"

Lucky for them the teacher walked in on that exact moment, calling order to the classroom.

"Everyone calm down aru!"

Maddie got a good look at the teacher. He was clearly asian, and judging by his accent she'd guess Chinese. He had his dark brown hair tied up into a ponytail and hazel eyes. He scanned the room with a look that said "I dare you to try anything."

"We have two new students joining us today, Alfred and Madeline Kirkland. I ask that you all treat them nicely aru. My name is Mr. Wang and welcome to World History aru. Now class open up your notebooks and..."

Maddie zoned out. She knew she could get the notes she needed from Alfred later since he always took good notes in his favorite classes.

When the bell finally rang the twins stood and quickly made their way to the next class.

The morning passed quickly and soon gave way to Alfred's favorite part of school.

Lunch.

Walking into the cafeteria they looked for a place to sit. Finding an empty table in the back they walked over, sat down, and pulled out their lunches. They ate in silence until a voice interrupted them.

"Hey! Kirkland twins!" A loud german accented voice called out as the person sat next to them.

"Hallo. My name's Gilbert," the boy said. His snowy white hair and bright red eyes made it clear that he was albino.

"Dude! Are you albino? That's so awesome!" Alfred said.

If anything, Gilbert's grin grew twice its size at the word 'awesome'.

"Ja, I am. But you two are pretty awesome yourselves. I've never seen conjoined twins before. I have you two in my Algebra Two class. Are you two really just sophomores, by the way you two excel at math, I would have though you were seniors. I'm an awesome junior myself," he finished.

"Cool, so where ya from?" Alfred asked. Maddie leaned into her broth and just listened to the conversation.

"Kesese, I'm from the Awesome Prussia. The most awesomest country to ever exist!"

Alfred raised a brow. "Yo mean the country that was dissolved at the end of World War Two? How can you be from a country that no longer exists?"

Gilbert just laughed and stood from the table.

"I've decided you two are my new friends, so tomorrow, instead of being all loner you should sit with us 'kay? I'll see you two in Algebra tomorrow!"

And with that, he was gone.

Alfred and Maddie both thought of the same thing.

Well, at least we can tell Mom and Dad we made a friend.

* * *

**HERRO! I is here. So for the bad touch trio, if anyone was wondering, will actually be nyotalia. And it goes like this: Fem!Spain is married to Romano and they had the Fem! Italy twins. We already know where Fem! France is and Fem! Prussia is Gil's mommy. Just thought I'd say that.**

**Translations:**

**French**

mon petit lapin- my little bunny

mon cher- my dear

Arthur, lapin, Nous devrions avoir anguille sous roche quand je rentre, non?- Arthur, bunny, we should do something fishy later, no?

**Italian**

Scusi- pardon

Mi dispiace- I'm sorry.

**Until next chapter.**

**Bye Bye~**


	4. Xaing and His Firecrackers of Doom

**I do not own any of the Hetalia Characters.  
**

* * *

**The Ups and Downs of Being Conjoined  
**

* * *

Alfred walked up the steps of the new apartment building and pulled their key out of his pocket. Sticking it in the lock he made his way inside and slinked on into the kitchen. The house was quiet, signaling that their parents were out. Maddie was slumbering away on his back after a crazy first week of living in Japan. After fixing himself a peanut butter and jelly sandwich he walked into the room and lay down on the bed.

Taking a quick bite out of his sandwich, Alfred reached over to grab the remote to the small television the twins had gotten for their thirteenth birthday. He flipped through the channels and eventually settled on some japanese anime that he couldn't understand. Not really paying attention he munched on his sandwich thinking about the week.

He had noticed that as the week went on less and less people were staring at them as they walked through the hallways. Plus the twins making friends very quickly was a big help. Alfred let his mind drift to the friends they had met since moving. Ludwig, and his 'not' girlfriend Felicia were interesting, and the japanese girl Sakura that always hung around them, they were cool. It almost reminded him of the Axis Power alliance during World War Two. He chuckled to himself. The Lithuanian kid Toris, he acted like a fretting nanny sometimes, but with his two adopted brothers he guessed it was only natural seeing as his younger brother was always getting bullied. Ivan Braginski got on his nerves a lot teasing him whenever he felt like it.

Alfred liked him though, he would make a good rival. Especially if he does cross country or track. Well then, bring it on. Ivan's younger sister Natalya was pretty hot too.

Daydreaming about Natalya, he didn't notice Maddie stir from her sleep. Nor did he notice the show he was 'watching' before had ended and some new show came on.

A very, very, dirty show.

"Al! Al!" she yelled, "Why on earth are you watching that? Change it! Change it right now!"

Looking at the television screen he felt his face grow extremely red and he could tell Maddie's was the same.

"Oh God."

"CHANGE IT! CHANGE IT!" she shouted.

"I'm trying! Crap! Were's the remote?" He responded while frantically searching for the remote.

"HURRY! OH LORD, HOW CAN THEY STILL KEEP GOING ON?"

Looking under their blankets, Alfred let out a shout of triumph as he quickly pushed the little arrow and changed the channel.

The two let out a simultaneous sigh of relief just as their door flung open and Arthur stood their, umbrella in hand as he looked around the room.

"I heard shouting, is everything alright? he asked, eyes full of worry.

"Yeah, we were just watching a horror movie," Alfred covered up lamely.

Arthur just looked at the television, then at his kids, then at the television once more, before shaking his head and chuckling.

"Okay then, you should wash up soon, your mother is back and dinner will be ready in about thirty minutes," he said before waking out of the room mumbling about kids and their TV shows.

After he left the two remaining in the looked up at the television and Alfred's mouth dropped, "Here Comes Honey Boo Boo."

Silence.

Then the sounds of boisterous laughter could be heard through all the other apartment residents.

"Oh Gosh! Al, a horror movie? Hahaha!" Maddie exclaimed clutching her stomach.

Once their laughter had died down they stood and walked towards the bathroom to get cleaned up for dinner. After washing up they headed to the dinning room and sat in their respective seats. Two small tables, Arthur across from Alfred and Francine across from Madeline. They picked up their utensils and began to dig in to the delicious salmon dinner on their plates. The kids and Francine made idle chit chat while Arthur let his mind wander.

* * *

"_So what part of the them is connected exactly?" A young british accent asked with worry. Green eyes wide in concern._

_The doctor pointed to the X-Rays resting on the wall._

"_Well, as you can see, their bodies are conjoined together staring below the neck at the bottom of the stem. Their spines are the same, then about three inches above the tailbone they separate, giving them each complete control over their legs."_

_Arthur's eyes widened even more, "Will they be alright?"_

_The doctor chuckled, "Yes, yes, they should be fine. The only problem I could see them having is your average sibling rivalries and sometimes numbness, but other than that they will be able to function like any other person. They will most likely have a few respiratory issues as well. And I must warn you, your daughter is a very weak child and not as strong as her brother. She's going to need lots of attention."_

_Arthur nodded his head. "Of course."  
_

* * *

"Arthur, are you even paying attention?"

A pair of fingers snapped in his line of vision and things came back into focus. His wife looked down from laying on top of him and he noticed he was in bed, he must have...

"You've been acting like a zombie for a couple of hours now, cher. What are you thinking about?" She asked laying her head back down on his chest.

Ah, so he did zone out. Arthur looked at the clock on their beside table.

10:30.

Wow, he was gone for a while.

"It's nothing," he assured.

"That is bull crap and you know it. I know how you get when you're thinking hard, you zone out and your face is blank. That hasn't happened in a long time lapin, what were you thinking about this time?"

He closed his eyes, trying to form words. Francine, thinking he didn't want to respond to her, pulled her arms forward and brought her thumbs to his forehead and began rubbing his large eyebrows. He snapped his eyes open and pulled her hands off him laughing. She then reached down to his sides and began tickling them instead.

"F-Francine! S-stop! Haha! I can't b-breathe! Hahaha!"

"Non! You need to laugh, Arthur."

He tried to push her off of himself, but to no avail as she thwarted every attempt to stop her. He lifted his arms to push her off and she took the opportunity to stick her hands under his armpits and continuing her rampage. They were both laughing and Arthur began to think that if they were any louder the twins would wake up.

"F-Francine, c-come off it, w-we are going to wake the twins," he said through his laughter. She understood and removed her hands from his sides. She lay down next to him and he put his arm around her.

Trying to regain his breath, Arthur answered Francine's original question.

"I was thinking about the twins again. I feel like they deserve more than being stuck together. They are such good kids, when Alfred doesn't go about shouting everything he says. I just wonder what life would have been like had they been born separate."

Francine leaned into his and rested her head on his chest, listening to his soft heartbeat. She smiled, Arthur can come across as cold to people, but she knew he really was just a softie.

"They're used to it," She said, "I'm sure they have their fights every once in a while, but they have been together for so long. They love each other, and they know they have our support. I think they need each other. I mean, look at them and tell me you can see them as not being together. That's how they were made." She snuggled closer to him, "They've survived for this long, I don't think they would have a problem with staying together for the rest of their lives."

She planted a soft kiss along his jawbone and settled down for some sleep.

Arthur let out another sigh before settling down like his wife, "You're probably right."

"Of course I am darling. Hm, good night."

"Good night."

Unbeknownst to them two pairs of ears had heard everything said.

* * *

Wang Yao work up early Saturday.

Granted, the Chinese man always woke up early, but his day he woke up earlier than usual. Yawning, he sat up in his bed and twisted around to crack his back. When he was satisfied he crawled out of bed and moseyed on into the kitchen of the small house not taking note of the sun just barely peaking over the horizon.

As he opened the fridge he graced the outside with a look.

"Wow, I'm up early aru."

Deciding to wait for a while before breakfast he went into the living room of the home and took a seat on one of the chairs enjoying the quiet of the house. He could feel his bones creak.

"Aiyah, I feel so stiff aru, I must be getting old."

Although no one would guess just by looking at the man, Wang Yao was nearing his fiftieth birthday. The man himself had been asked many times how it was that he didn't look a day after twenty.

After relaxing for a bit he decided to make some breakfast. He stood from his chair and made his way into the kitchen once more. He pulled out a pan to make some fried eggs. He checked to see if their was still enough rice leftover from the previous night's dinner. Smiling that there was, Yao continued preparing breakfast.

While cooking the eggs his mind drifted over to the two new students in his class. The Kirkland twins were interesting to say the least. Madeline seemed to have absolutely no interest in his class and hardly ever payed attention, yet she still managed to ace every single pop quiz he sent to her and she had gotten a hundred percent of their test they had had during the week. Alfred was definitely a history man, Yao could see his love for the subject. It made the old man swell with pride to know that there was still hope for this world of ungrateful students.

He finished making breakfast when he heard a loud _BOOM!_ resound through the house.

Eyebrows twitching, Yao calmly put down the plate of eggs and bowls of rice before walking into his son's room. He walked in to see is adopted son Xaing, from Hong Kong, covered in the aftermath of another firecracker.

The young boy, with bored brown eyes and soft brown hair looked up at the footsteps that entered his room. The ten year old's eyes gained a slight emotion of fear for a moment before masking it.

"Aiyah! Xaing! What have I told you about using firecrackers in the house aru?"

He averted his young eyes and frowned, "Don't do it."

Sighing, Yao knelt down to his level and rubbed his head.

"Xaing, setting off fireworks in the house is dangerous, you could have gotten hurt, or hutrt your siblings too. Next time you set them off, ask me for help and we'll do them outside," he said.

"But Bàba, I just got this new firecracker that's really cool and I had to try it out and I was too excited to wait!"

Yao smiled and picked the boy up.

"Patience is a virtue my child. Hm, now let's get you some breakfast and your siblings some too, yes?"

* * *

**Hello! So I really don't have much to say right now. But we had a snow day and school was closed so I decided to type up another chapter of the story.**

**Speaking of stories, anyone who is wondering when I'll update Patient Impossible and why I'm writing other stuff instead is simple.**

**I've been writing this story in a notebook during my free time at school so I've had this written in advance then I just type it up. Patient Impossible is one that I just type without writing it. So I need more time to think about writing that. I'll finish it, but probably not until summer starts.**

**Okay, that's all I have to say, so until next time- **

**Oh! I almost forgot.**

**Translations:**

**Chinese(Traditional) **Bàba- Papa.

**French **Cher- Dear Lapin- Bunny

**M'Kay I think that's it, I use google translate for all these translations so correct me if I'm wrong cause we all know that google translate isn't completely reliable.**

**Okay for real now.**

**Until next time.**

**Bye Bye~**


	5. In Which Man is Woman

**I do not own any of the Hetalia Characters.**

**The Ups and Downs of Being Conjoined  
**

* * *

"Hey Al, Maddie!"

The twins turned upon hearing their names being called, seeing a grinning Gilbert run to them. They waited as he skidded to a halt then spoke.

"Sup' awesome people," he said.

"Hey Gil,what's going on?" Alfred responded.

Gilbert smiled, "Well, after school today a group of us cool kids are going to this old abandoned house that's supposedly haunted, you two want to come?"

The twins shook their heads, "Sorry Gil," Maddie started, "We've got track tryouts after school."

Even though it was true, she also knew there was no way Alfred would be able to go into a haunted house and not have nightmares, and keep her up for the next three nights.

Gilbert paused, "Wait, you two are going out for Track? Is that even possible?

"Of course, we were the best of the best at our old school," Alfred said, shrugging.

Gilbert smirked, "The best huh? Getting a little cocky are we? You know, we have some champions here as well."

Alfred let out a snort, "As if they could beat us. Me and Maddie-"

"Maddie and I, Al," Maddie corrected.

"Whatever, you're such a Daddy's girl. Anyways, you want proof of our unbelievable skills? Come watch tryouts."

"I will! And maybe I'll even try out myself, I am pretty awesome myself ya know."

"Then why weren't you planning to come already if you're such a great runner?" Alfred pushed.

At this Gilbert turned his head, "Just never felt like it, ya know. It seemed unawesome."

"If you thought that then, then why would you want to now?"

"What kind of awesome person would I be if I didn't accept such a simple challenge?"

She couldn't tell if it was the way he was looking at the ground or by the absent of a smirk on his face, but _something_ told Maddie that Gilbert wasn't to fond of the way the conversation was going. She couldn't quite put her finger on it, but after he turned away he gained a solemn look in his eyes.

She quickly spoke up, "Well, I guess we'll see you at the track after school. The bell is about to ring."

With that, the twins and Gilbert separated to head to their respective classes. But not before Maddie noticed Gilbert give her a thankful smile.

* * *

Setting down into their first class of the day, Alfred pulled out his pencil and notebook as Felicia skipped up, dragging Ludwig and Sakura along with her.

"Ve~ Hi-a you two! Are you ready for the test today?" she asked.

"Heck yeah! Test are easy!" Alfred responded.

"Ve~ I never will know how you two are so good at this class."

* * *

The rest of the conversation became lost to Madeline as she let her mind wander away for the little remaining time they had before class began.

The test was easy.

Alfred didn't see why everyone else thought that class was so difficult. Ah well, off to Algebra.

* * *

Getting into their math class they were soon bombarded by Elizaveta, the junior from Hungary, her long brown hair flowing behind her as Gilbert hurried to catch up with her. Maddie thought she was pretty funny, especially when Gilbert and she fought. Alfred however just thought she was straight up scary, albeit slightly motherly.

"Hey Maddie, Al. I need to talk to you two!"

Maddie smiled, "Hey Lizzie. What do you need?"

She smiled back to her, "I needed to ask if you are free on Friday. Us girls are having a slumber party and we would love it if you came, Maddie."

Alfred coughed into his hand.

She turned to him and laughed, "You're invited too, ya know. So long as you keep your eyes up."

Maddie smiled before asking, "Who all is going to be there?"

She tapped her chin thoughtfully, "Well, there's me, Feli, Lovi, Sakura's sister Meimei, Sakura, Natalya, and Al and you if you come."

"Sounds like fun," she said.

"I don't think that's fair," Gilbert piped up, a scowl on his face, "How come Al can go, but I can't?"

Elizaveta frowned, "Really Gil, is it really that hard to guess why I would invite Alfred too?"

Gilbert just continued to glare at her.

She rolled her eyes, "Seriously Gil, I wanted to invite Maddie, Maddie and Al are conjoined, kinda impossible to invite Maddie and not Al. And besides, since Al is stuck to a girl, that makes him practically one of us."

Gilbert let out a snort, while Alfred's face lit up like a tomato.

"Hey! I take offense to that!"

"Why? You're practically a girl Alfred!" Gilbert laughed out.

"No way am I like a girl! I'm totally manly. I have lots of muscle and a freaking huge d-"

"I think they got it Al."

Alfred pouted, but quieted. "Well it is. I bet I'm even better than Gil."

Ceasing his laughter, Gilbert turned to glare at the sophomore, "Whoa bro. It's one thing to talk about yourself, but when you go and insult mein awesome five meters, it gets personal."

"Five meters?" Alfred smiled, "Why would you call it five meters?"

"Because that's how awesomely big it is!"

Alfred shoved his face into the junior's. "No way you can be that big, it's physically impossible."

Gilbert glared back, "Is too, cause I'm just that awesome!"

"Yeah, well, I'm as big as... as.. Florida!"

"Nuh uh!"

"Yeah huh!"

"You're not that big, you just wish you were as awesome as me!"

"I don't have to wish, because I am! And then some!"

"Loser!"

"Fraud!"

"WILL BOTH OF YOU SHUT UP! MINE IS BIGGER THAN BOTH OF YOUR COMBINED!"

The two went silent as they looked over towards Elizaveta. Her face was red from shouting. Alfred looked at her in confusion. "Wait.. but.. you're a girl.. and gils can't .. uh... have... um.. you know.."

Letting herself calm down, she placed a hand on top of the boy's head and smiled at him. "No Alfred, girls cannot have those. I just wanted you two to stop shouting."

Gilbert turned his head away, "Comin' from the girl who used to think she had one."

"What was that Gilbert?"

"Nothing."

Elizaveta turned back to the twins, "So you'll come right?"

Maddie nodded her head, "Of course, it sounds like fun."

With those words being said, the teacher walked in and class began.

* * *

The day went by quickly and before Maddie could notice it, they were walking to the track locker room to change for tryouts. After changing in the family restroom the walked out onto the track to begin warm ups.

Coach Beilschmidt stood outside waiting for everyone to arrive, his long blonde hair tied up into a ponytail. Once the last of the students meandered onto the track he pulled his whistle up to his lips and blew into it to gain everyone's attention.

"Alright everyone! Get over here and listen up! This is how tryouts will work! On my count, you will begin running around the track! The track is one fourth of a mile around, so you will run around the track six times! If you can complete the laps you're in! Rules for disqualification are as follows, if you walk, you're out! If you stop, you're out! Any foul play, you're out! Line up, we are about to begin!"

When the coach closed his mouth, the students began to line up on the track to take positions. The twins got into place, Gilbert strutting up beside them, a smirk clear as day resting on his lips. Maddie closed her eyes and waited for the whistle to sound.

The whistle sounded and tryouts began.

She felt her brother's foot push off the ground and she smiled as she felt bodies whiz past them. Confused looks on all their faces. She opened her eyes to watch the sky above them as the sun peaked through the clouds. She let out a small laugh and closed her violet eyes again.

Alfred jogged along the track, barely making much progress to the students sprinting along the track. Five laps they kept the slow pace, half of the students who had started with them already been pulled out. They reached the beginning of their final lap. Alfred's brow hardly breaking a sweat.

Alfred let out a chuckle, "Should we finish this?"

...

"Let's go."

It was then that the wind stopped. The panting ceased. And the stomp of feet disappeared.

The world around them was gone.

As if one of it existed.

Except for Alfred and Madeline.

His slightly ragged breath, her clam inhales.

One shoe hit the ground.

And they took off.

Once again people whizzed by them, but this round they began to take the lead. Everything went in slow motion for the two. Madeline looked in amusement at the athletes they passed. Many emotions running through their expressions.

Surprise.

Shock.

Wonder.

Awe.

And she loved every moment of it.

Hours to them were really just mere seconds in the eyes of everyone else. Those few hours passed by and she saw the face of the one person she had waited hours to see the expression on.

Gilbert.

His look of shock alone was enough to make her laugh. But she remained composed. A quick smile was all she allowed.

And time sped up.

The wind returned, the panting came back, and the stomps on the ground were just as loud as they ran across the finish line, slowing to a stop and setting themselves down on the ground at regain the energy lost. Maddie pulled out their inhaler and took a breath.

"Maddie, inhaler... please.."

She handed it to him and he took a breath as well.

"Thanks."

"No problem."

"How did you do that?"

It was then that they noticed the group of students that accumulated around them. An albino boy taking the lead.

"What do you mean?" Alfred asked.

Gilbert gave him a glare, "I mean, how could you possibly run the final lap in just under fifteen seconds?"

Maddie smiled, "Fifteen! I thought it was way longer than that!"

"You didn't answer my ques-"

He was stopped by a hand on his shoulder. Coach Beilschmidt looked to the students around.

"The first practice is Wednesday afternoon. I'll give you you're full schedule then. Dismissed!"

His blue eyes turned to Gilbert to give him a stern glare. "Gilbert, we need to talk."

Maddie watched as they walked away. Alfred spoke up. "What do you think they're talking about?"

"Not sure, but I'm sure he's getting onto him for one thing or another."

"Hm, family will be family."

Maddie cast a quick glance back at Gilbert, who was scowling at whatever his grandfather was saying. He caught her eye and sent a smirk her way before turning back to his granddad.

The twins walked off the track.

* * *

'**Crawls out of ground'**

**I'm alive!**

**Sorry it took so long to update! I've been really busy with school and home and a few other things so my time has been occupied. A friend of mine was recently diagnosed with having a large cancerous tumor in her left lung that is spreading to her right lung, so I've been busy with that, plus EoCs, finals, and scheduling issues for next year, as well as several school projects that I had.**

**Blur.**

**Explanation on why the twins know Gil and Coach are related.**

**First off, they know Ludwig is Gil's bro and Ludwig and Coach look EXACTLY alike. They both have the same last name too. So it wasn't very hard to put two and two together.**

**I get out of school next Tuesday so I'll be able to start updating more regularly and finish up Patient Impossible. **

**There was actually supposed to be another scene in here about Gil giving Maddie the Birdie nickname, but I just wanted to get something finished and updated.**

**Thank you to everyone who have been so nice to be patient with me!**

**Sorry for any mistakes that are in here.**

**Also, if anyone could explain to me what a beta is? I've just been wondering.**

**Bye Bye~**


	6. Sleepovers and Breaking News

**I do not own any of the Hetalia Characters.**

**The Ups and Downs of Being Conjoined  
**

* * *

Gilbert shut the door of his home he shared with his brother and Grandfather, and walked up the stairs and into his bedroom. Dropping his bed onto the carpeted floor he slunk over to the messy bed and plopped his lanky body onto it.

"Gilbird, I must talk to you about something urgent," he said reaching over to the small bird cage filled with soft cotton balls. He opened the small door and pulled out a little yellow ball of fuzz.

He let out a sigh.

"Gilbird, what is this feeling I've got. It doesn't feel natural. Every time I think about Maddie I get this feeling in my stomach that makes me feel nervous."

"Piyo!"

"Yeah! She's really awesome, and Alfred. I've only known them for a week, but they're about as close to me as Lizzy was before..."

Memories of two children flitted through the albino's mind before he brushed it away.

"Piyo! Piyo!"

"Yeah, it's probably nothing."

The sound of a door opening and closing resounded around the house, and Gilbert knew he was in for quite the talking to.

There was a knock on his door.

"Come in."

The door opened and Gilbert looked into the face of his frustrated looking grandfather. The two watched each other for a few moments before Gilbert broke the silence.

"What?"

His grandfather let out a sigh and walked over to sit on his grandson's bed.

"Gilbert why are you so insistent on doing this?"

He scoffed, "I already told you, I want to do something besides sitting on my ass all day at school, then coming home to sit on my ass some more."

Mr. Beilschmidt's frown grew, "Language Gilbert. And besides, the doctor said-"

"Who cares what the doctor says! His words aren't important anymore! It's been three years Großvater! I know I can do this! You just have to let me prove it to you!"

The two stared each other down for several awkward minutes. The silence was loud and pounding against Gilbert's ears but he refused to back down from this. Finally, his grandfather released a sigh.

"Gilbert, I really hope you know what you're doing."

And with that, he left the room, leaving Gilbert alone to hold a small smile of triumph on his face.

"Don't worry, I'll make you proud."

* * *

Putting the pajamas in a small bag, the twins finished throwing together their overnight bag. Maddie held it in her arms as Arthur seemed to be scolding Alfred over something he hadn't done.

Yet.

"And don't walk in on anyone while their changing, and keep your eyes up, and-"

"Mon ami, calm down! Alfred is a good boy, and of course Madeline will keep a good eye on him."

Maddie couldn't hide the smile on her face as her family walked outside, her father headed to his office to pick up a few things, while Francine helped the twins in the car. Once everyone was buckled in, she started the car and began the short and silent drive over to Elizaveta's house.

Upon arriving at her house, the twins took note of just how wealthy the family was. The large three story house had a light golden color and many windows. Just as Maddie was picking up their bag, the door to the house opened up and Elizaveta shot out, along with Mei Wang, Felicia, who was dragging along a reluctant Lovina.

"Maddie, Al! I'm so glad you could come!" she cheered running up to the two, "Here, I've got your bag, just follow MeiMei into the living room."

After saying goodbye to their mother, they followed MeiMei and the other twin set into the living room. Walking in, they felt their jaws slacken a bit as they stared around the wide space. The cleanliness of the area made the two almost afraid to touch anything.

"Wow, your house is really nice Lizzy," Maddie marveled.

Coming in behind the group, Elizaveta smiled, "Oh it's nothing really."

Everyone who was meant to be there sat in the large living room's several couches. Maddie wondered why they seemed so unimpressed by the house, then a thought struck her. _Most of the students at our school all come from extremely rich families, we're in because our father works for one of the biggest hospitals in the area._

Many smiles were directed their way as they took a seat next to Felicia and Natalya. Alfred seemed almost reluctant to sit down next to the angry looking Belarusian as she gave him a long hard glare. After settling down, snacks were passed around the room as Elizaveta flipped through their movie selection eventually picking one and sending it into the DVD player.

As the movie played on, Alfred found himself utterly bored. The terrible plot and the predictability of the entire movie made him want to make several sarcastic comments, but his fear of Maddie's anger kept his mouth shut. Knowing all the blackmail she held over him, and granted, he still held some over her, but that wouldn't be nearly as much. Just as he was nodding off the credits began to roll and he got a pinch to the nose.

"W-what?"

Natalya's glare at him intensified as he woke up.

"The movie's overі дыёт. Wake up."

A small blush appeared on Alfred's face as he forced himself awake so as to avoid embarrassment, silently praying that his sister hadn't heard anything. However, but the vibration of their shared spine that he knew wasn't his doing, he had a sinking feeling that his twin now had more blackmail on her hands

He grumbled as her snickers died down and several stood up to stretch. The break consisted of a bathroom break and a restock of snacks before sitting down -to Alfred's complete horror- to another movie. Fortunately for him, Elizaveta has the sense to pick out an action movie, which although did have plenty of romance in, wasn't wholly awful to watch and he didn't find himself nodding off a second time.

Two more movies were watched, along with a dinner break of whatever other snacks Elizaveta pulled out, and preparing for bed came straight after. The twins were directed to one of the the three bathrooms. Upon entering the bathroom the twins shut the door and proceeded to remove their clothes.

Unable to hear the twins in the bathroom and not completely paying attention the the light coming out from under the door, an exhausted Natalya, holding her toothbrush wandered to the only door that was unlocked.

Maddie was reaching into the shower to turn on the water, when the door opened up to reveal Natalya.

Turning on the water, Maddie didn't hear the door open and left Alfred to lock eyes with the girl who had pinched his nose earlier.

Suddenly he felt very self conscious.

Her emotionless expression never changed as she closed the door and left.

When Alfred finally seemed to regain feeling in his body he pulled away from the shower to run and lock the door.

"Ah! Al!" Maddie squeaked at being suddenly pulled away from the water that was heating up. "Alfred why are you jumping around?"

Internally thankful that Maddie didn't have a second thing to hold as blackmail, he ignored her burst and wandered over to the shower where they climbed in and let the warm water hit their skin.

* * *

Snuggling into the makeshift bed in the living room, Maddie noticed her twin's every move to avoid facing Natalya after they had rejoined the group. Every time she appeared in his sights, Maddie would suddenly lose eye contact with the person she was conversing with to suddenly see Natalya.

She couldn't help but snicker once again.

* * *

Mei Wang dropped her bag in her room before walking into the cozy living room where her adoptive family were sitting quietly. Aside from her brother Yong Soo who was trying to engage their oldest siblings Kasem and Lien in a game of chess. The youngest sibling, Xaing was over by the window sitting on her father's lap drawing in a sketchbook. Upon seeing her two oldest siblings home from their colleges abroad she let out a shout of excitement before pummeling them.

"Lien! Kas! You're home!"

Lien gave her sister a quick hug before Kasem stole Mei for himself to cuddle.

"It's so good to see you MeiMei! How have you been?

"Good! It's been so long since I've seen you two! How's college?"

The family continued through reminiscing with each other, when a knock resounded at their door. Yao removed Xaing from his lap and proceeded over to greet whoever was visiting. He opened the door to reveal his brother Kiku with his daughter Sakura standing behind him holding the same expression her father always wore.

"Hello Kiku, what brings you here?"

A single look from his brother told him he was on business once more and Yao nodded, letting them in. He turned to Sakura, "Kasem and Lien have returned from abroad, they'd be excited to see their favorite cousin."

"I'm their only cousin."

"Touché, go say hello to them."

Watching he walk off to see her cousins, Yao turned to his brother.

"What do you need?"

"It has come to my attention-"

Yao let out a sigh of annoyance, "Kiku, I practically raised you, you do not need to act so formal here."

"I apologize," he said, loosening his posture slightly, "As I was saying, you have the Kirkland twins in your classroom, correct?"

"Indeed I do, they are some of my top students, although Alfred is a bit snarky."

"I have something I must discuss with you about them. And... your guidance on how to approach this topic..."

With a raised eyebrow, Yao gestured for him to continue.

* * *

The following week went by without much emotional excitement for the Kirkland family. However, walking into work that Sunday morning Arthur felt as if his body had decided to quit on him. This particular morning he had gotten a call from his superior asking him to come into work early.

Stepping into the office of the man who had essentially saved their family, Arthur waited to be acknowledged.

Mr. Kiku Honda looked up from where he had been writing and offered a smile.

"Good morning Arthur-san, please have a seat."

Taking a seat upon the leather chair that was in front of the desk he couldn't help the feeling of wanting to loosen his tie. A feeling of apprehension appeared and he sat stiffly in his seat. He ran his hands over the arms of the surprisingly comfortable chair and waited for his boss to speak.

"As you are aware Arthur-san, your children go to school with some of the largest enterprises in the country. One of those students happens to be my daughter, Sakura. She, like myself, is an extreme observer. She has observed most everyone in the school, but one thing that constantly comes to her attention is the way your children act, and their body language.

"As it should be in your attention, we have recently been working on a new operation, that will in fact, change the way the world views twins like your children. My daughter's observations have given us plenty of information that we would otherwise have been unable to obtain," Honda placed his chin upon his folded hands and giving a leveled look at Arthur.

"S-sir, what exactly are you hinting at?"

Honda closed his eyes before flashing a smirk that lasted for only a few seconds before his gaze returned and he spoke.

"We may have found a way to successfully separate your children."

* * *

**And I have miraculously produced a chapter! GENIUS!**

**I am quite happy with getting this done, I am an extreme procrastinator as well. Luckily I do have some good news to spill.**

**I only have AP English Summer Work left. (I had a lot of other work previously)**

**I only have two more weeks of working.**

**If you weren't aware of my family's issue, my cousin had to go into surgery for a cyst that was by her artery, and it couldn't have gone any better!**

**I will try to update one of my two stories I'm currently working on at least once a week, or every two weeks. Depends on what's going on.**

**Thank you for being patient with me!**

**Bye Bye~**


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